This summary is provided by the IPR ESG & Purpose Research Library.
Dr. Karine Lacroix and colleagues examined whether climate change mitigation behaviors at the personal level spills over onto people’s willingness to engage in behaviors at the collective level.
A series of three surveys were conducted. Survey 1 consisted of 1,037 U.S. adults and was conducted March 18–29, 2021. Survey 2 consisted of 2,461 U.S. adults and was conducted Oct. 12–20, 2021. Survey 3 consisted of 2,437 U.S. adults and was conducted Feb. 14–March 3, 2022.
Key findings include:
1.) Reminding people of the behaviors they have done in the past increases both their perception that they have already taken enough action and their own environmental identity.
2.) Reminding people of their personal mitigation behaviors does not reduce their willingness to perform collective behaviors.
3.) Reminding individuals of the actions they have already taken encouraged them to support a carbon tax paid by companies more, while having no effect on the level of support for a carbon tax paid by individuals.
4.) Messages that directly encourage collective climate change mitigation behaviors may be more effective at promoting these behaviors than messages that emphasize past personal behaviors.
Discover how to encourage individuals to support collective climate change mitigation behaviors
